Acetylene-gas generator.



Y Patented Aug. l, i899. 1'. HENDERSON a5 w. A. sTAPP. ACETYLENE SAISGENEBTB.

, (Appliation med July's, 159s.)

(No Model.)

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UNITED STATES vPATEIWI OFFICE.

THOMAS HENDERSON AND WILLIAM A. STAPP, OF TYLER, TEXAS, ASSIGN- ORS, BYDIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE LONE STAR ACETY- LENE GAS COMPANY,-OF SAME PLACE.

ACETYLEN E-GAS GENERATOR. y

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters` Patent No. 629,855, dated August1, 1899.

Application iiled July 5, 1898. Serial No. 685,088. (No model.)

Our invention relates to that class of acety- Io Iene-gas machines inwhich the carbid-receptacle is operated from the bell of thegasreceptacle through suitable devices.

The objects of this invention areas follows: to provide a simple andeective machinev I Which will be automatic in its action andnot liableto get out of order through the nonoperation of the valves; to provide'anovel construction of gas-tank 'and bell; to provideA a novel removablecarbid-holder inthe formzo of a cylindrical screen-likecage and a sim--ple operating mechanism 'therefor'actuated from the gasometer-bell; toprovide a swinging spray-pipe, so as to permit' of the re- Inoval of thecarbid-cage; to provide a simple and effective Water-feed for thespraypipe, and to provide a simple and effective form lof generator andgasometer. These objects We accomplish by the mechanism illustrat-ed inthe accompanying drawings, in 3o which A Figure 1 is a sectionalelevation of our iin- Y provedmachine, the water-'cup Q, which liesbeyond the generator, being also -in section Fig. 1a is a detail oftheupper'portionbf the' v gas-tank and bell. Fig. 2 is a sectionalelevaticn of the generator at right angles to the position shown in Fig.1, the spray-pipe being swung up in dotted lines tothe position it would'occupy during the insertion 'and re# its upperfedge for Vthe receptionof avvater 4o Inoval of the carbid-cage. K Ais the annular gas-tank, inwhich dips the open lower straight end of the bell O, the u pper ends ofthe bell and tank-being enlarged or iiaredI outwardly, as slIoWnat c a,respeci 4 5 tively, and the Vtank "being filled nearly full ofWater,'having aseal of oil on its upper surl face. -The tank issupported on a suitable franje. B, formed Vof piping, as shown in Fig.

l. The inner perpendicular cylindrical Wall' A of the tank A is spacedfrom the interior of the outer Wall,^so as to form the annularWater-space for the bell, and this cylinder A is closed at both ends.

G is the vertical gas-inlet pipesupported centrallyin the ends ofthecylinderA'Y and Yprovided at its upper end with perforations g abovethe levelof the oil for the escape of gas into' the bell, thelowe'r endof the pipe G lbeing provided with a U-shaped drip-trap g', sealed Withoil, as shown in Fig. ll

G is Ya horizontal pipe leading 'fromV the Vgenera-tor J,"to bepresently describechvto' a pipe G just above Vthe A trap gandprovidedwith a stop-cock H. I is the gas-outletpipe mounted inthe cylinder A,Withits upper open end in the gas-space of the'bell O and at their upperends by a cross-bar A3, at the middle of which isa guide-sleeve d3,through iwhich slides'the upper half of a guide-rod D,

carried centrally by the bell O, the lower half 'of the rod ert'e'ndingdown into the pipe G,

which is made large enough to serve as a guide therefor as Well as toconduct the gas intothebell.: Y, s

J is the generator, consisting of an open toptankprovided 'with areservoir J' around and oil seal likevthat of the gasometer.

- M is the'tanh-cove'r, having a depending flange M', which dips intothe sealing iiuids in the reservoir J tov prevent the escape of gas andrender the use of gasketsfand packed joints unnecessary.- The eoverM issecured in place by bolts L, Which` are shot through keepers Z- on theupperv edge -of the reservoirJ.

K is the rotary horizontal carbid? cage, which may be formed of anysuitable openwork material having suitable interstices or openings, wirescreen being preferred. This cage has trunnions 7c .70 in its closedends, which are supported on the seat-bearingsjj, the trunnion 7a beingprovided with a squared socket to receive removably the similarlyshapedend of the short shaft O, mounted at its inner end in a packed bearing Oand at its outer end supported in the upper end of a bracket O2. Thus itwill be seen that the cage K may be readily inserted and removed. Theshaft O, and with it the cage K, isintermittently rotated by means of aratchet-wheel W, secured to said shaft and engaged by a pawl w, carriedby the vertically-rocking lever'lV', fulcrumed on said shaft andprovided with an adjustable weight 1d. The lever W is given its upstroketo rotate the ratchet by lneans'of a cord X, which extends from itsouter end upwardly over a guide-pulley a; and then under a guide-pulleyx to the upper end of the guide-rod D. Reverse rotation of the shaft Ois prevented by the stop-pawl P is a Water tank or reservoir having atrapscrewp in its top and an outlet-pipe P', extending down from itsbottom and provided with a stop-cock p'. The lower end of the pipe Pextends down into a water-cup Q, j ust above the generator, and the riseand fall of the Water in this cup cuts off and permits the flow,respectively, of water in pipeP. The cup Q has an overflow-spout q inone side.

The upper end of one arm of a vertical U- shaped trap-pipe S connectsabove its stopcock R with the lower end of the water-cup Q, and itsother arm extends up into the generator or tank J, where it is providedwith a swivel T, to which one end of the horizontal spray-pipe U issecured. This spray-pipe U extends longitudinally over the carbid-cage Kand discharges Water upon the carbid contained therein. The spray-pipemay be swung up, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, to permit theintroduction and removal of the carbid-cage.

The operation .is as follows: The cage K is filled with carbid andinserted in the generator, the pipe U is swung down, and the air and gasvalve N in the bottom of generator is opened. The cover M is now securedin position and the valve N closed. To ll the tank P, close the cock p'and open the trap screw or plu g p. Then after closin g or replacing theplugp open the cock or valve 10 and allow the water to iiow through thetrap-pipe S to the spray-pipe U, which will spray it on the carbid andcause the gas to generate. The water in the U-shaped pipe S will preventthe escape of gas therethrough. As soon as the water in cup Q rises bypressure of -gas to the end of pipe P the flow from pipe P ceases. Asthe water is used and falls below the end of pipe P air is admitted toWater-tank P, letting down a small quantity of water. In this way thewater in cup Qre- Sure.

mains atl all times practically at the same level. In Fig. l the bell Cis at its normal position when gas is burning. The pressure of gas isbarely sufficient to hold the water in the cup Q, and therefore asmallquantity escapes through the spray-pipe upon the carbid. As shown inFig. l, the outwardly-inclined wall c of the bell is elevated above theinclined wall a of the tank, and should the number of lighted burners beincreased the bell will of course drop and its inclined wall c willapproach the inclined wall a, which will of course increase the gas areawithin the bell, and thereby allow the remaining gas to expand, whichwill temporarily reduce its pressure, the sealing medium spreading overthe space between the straight wall of the cylinder A and the wall c, asshown in Fig. la. It follows, therefore, that as the pressure of the gason the column of water in pipe S decreases by reason of such expansionthe water will flow from cup Q and be sprayed upon the carbid. This willincrease the gas-pressure and raise the bell to its normal position ofFig. l. At the time of the decrease in gaspressure pipe P will have beenuncovered by the lowering oi' the water in cup Q and more water willhave flowed into the cup from said pipe. the water will rise in cup Qand close pipe P', and the bell will be raised by the increasedgas-pressure to the position shown in Fig. l, or even higher than that,which will decrease its, gas area and cause an increased gas-pres- Itwill be seen, therefore, that the aring or enlarged `upper ends of thetank and bell serve a most important purpose in that they cause a changeof gas area with a corresponding change in gas-pressure whichautomatically regulates the flow of water to and from the cup Q. Whenthe lights are all out,

-the bell rises gradually from the position shown in Fig. la, decreasingthe area inside, owing to the fact of its inclined Wall c moving awayfrom the inclined wall a toward the upper end of the straight cylinderA', and thereby increasing the gas-pressure by such decrease of areasufficiently to hold the water in cup Q and stop the forming of gas. The

larger the area covered by the bell the less the pressure under it, andvice versa. This is the principle that controls the water-supply to thecarbid. When the bell is up, the water is held in the cup, and when thebell is down, as shown in Fig. 1, the water in the cup and the pressureof gas are about on a balance. In practice after the gas is turned outthere is enough moisture left in the carbidcage to make several feet ofgas. This raises the bell O, which in turn revolves the carbidcagethrough cord X,lever W", pawl w, ratchet W, and shaft O, thus shakingthe ashes out of the cage. into the bottom of the generatortank, fromwhich they-may be removed when the cage is taken out for refilling. Therotation of the carbid-cage as just described not only discharges theashes or spent material,

As soon as the gas-pressure increases roo but brings a fresh surfaceinto position for the spray to act upon.

A We employ oil as the sealing medium in order to prevent the carbidfrom drawing moisture from the surface of the water seals.

Our machine requires no attention except to reiill the carbid-cage andthe water-tank and is entirely automatic in its action. f

The gas-pressure never exceeds four ounces, and so no blow-off,'safety-valve, regulator, gage, or Whistle is required. There are noValves to regulate the dow of the water, which is governed entirely bynatural laws.

What we claim is- 1. The combination with the gasometer the bell ofwhich has a central guide-rod, a guideframe for said rod, and pulleys onsaid frame, of a generator-tank provided with a rotary carbid holderprovided with an operating pawl-and-ratchet mechanism, a cord or chainextending from the upper end of said guiderod under and over saidpulleys and down to the paWl-lever, and means for discharging water onthe carbid.

2. A gasometer comprising the gas-tank having an annular chamber for theseal and provided with a liared or enlarged upper end, and a belldipping at its lower end into said chamber and flared or enlarged at itsclosed upper end to correspond with the enlarged or flared upper end ofthe tank, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. A gasometer comprising a tank having parallel inner and outer wallsforming an annular sealing-chamber; the upper end of the outer Wallbeing flared or inclined outwardly, and a bell'dipping at its lower openend into said chamber and flared or inclined outwardly at its closedupper end, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. The combination with a gas-generating chamber having a water-supplyfor the earbid, of a tank having an annular sealingehamber and anenlarged or ilared upper end, a bell dipping at its lower open end intosaid chamber and having a flared or enlarged`

